Energize Acton

Celebration of Plant-Based Meals!
2026-07-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | NARA Park Pavilions, Acton, NARA Park Pavilions, Unit 25 Ledge Rock Way, Acton, Massachusetts, US
You can do something about our climate!
Eat more plant-based meals!

We all share one activity that can have a significant impact on climate change—the food we eat! Eating more plant-based meals is an immediate and DELICIOUS way to put less CO2 into the atmosphere. Making changes to your eating habits can be done at your own pace and with little financial investment. Plus, you get to celebrate the amazing bounty of the plant world!
Please join Energize Acton and the Town of Acton Sustainability Office for our 4th Annual Celebration of Plant-Based Meals. Everyone is asked to contribute to this potluck picnic, so please bring a dish based on veggies, fruit, grains, beans, or nuts. Your contribution can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Are you on the run between soccer games? Bring a bag of cashews! Are you a vegan chef? We look forward to a non-dairy extravaganza! Any vegetarian or vegan dish is welcome. The idea is to sample favorite plant-based recipes from across the community and to give thanks for the miracle of plants.
Besides food, if possible, we ask you might bring a few other items.

Two copies of your recipe;
Your favorite veggie cookbook or name of a favorite cooking website (just to share for the evening);
A napkin and cup.

We are trying to make this a low-waste event and the Church of the Good Shepherd has generously offered to let us borrow plates and cutlery from their plastics-free kitchen. We will have back-up cups and napkins, so no worries, but we thank you for helping keep trash to a minimum.
We hope to have at least one food demo to entertain us. Plus, inspired by the book, Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, our theme will be “Plants as Teachers.” We will have 2-3 special displays about edible plants that make a difference in the world today.
Registration is helpful but not required.
Register HERE.

EnergizeActon.org is a joint effort of the Acton Climate Coalition and the Town of Acton Sustainability Office.

Biosphere Book Club - July Title: Here Comes the Sun
2026-07-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Address shared upon registration, Strawberry Hill Rd, Acton, MA
Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization
By Bill McKibben

“No one has done more to raise the alarm about climate change or to address the problem than Bill McKibben. In Here Comes the Sun, he shows that we all have the technologies we need to move forward. If any book could make a thinking person hopeful about the future, this is it.”
― Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
“Compelling… A paean to the emerging dominance of renewable energy.”
― Kirkus Reviews

If you are a clean energy advocate in the U.S., it is easy to feel discouraged in the present moment. The current administration has been extraordinarily successful in undermining forward progress on renewable energy. The powers-that-be seem determined to squeeze every last penny of profit from fossil fuels, no matter the costs to our economy, our health, or our climate.
And yet one of the country’s major voices in the fight to address climate warming, Bill McKibben, sees reasons to be hopeful. In much of the rest of the world, the adoption of solar power is surging ahead. From China to Pakistan to Egypt, solar projects are generating significant energy. This year, one very small country—Vatican City—will be the first country to more entirely off fossil fuels. When Bill McKibben was at the Vatican to mark the 10th anniversary of St. Francis’s encyclical on climate change, Laudato ‘Si (On Care for Our Common Home), McKibben quipped “Let’s henceforth concentrate on energy from Heaven, not from Hell.”
In Here Comes the Sun, will we find inspiration from the rest of the world? Can we find ways, both at the grassroots and institutional levels, to recover the solar momentum for this country? Please join the July edition of the Biosphere Book Club and share your thoughts on Bill McKibben’s latest book. As with every Book Club choice, it is great if you can read the book, but it is not required. The host will prepare a brief outline of the text with key quotes and discussion points constructed in such a way that all can participate.
For the July session, facilitator Karen invites you to an in-person picnic version of the Biosphere Book Club. Come enjoy cool beverages and summer bounty to spark our brain power. We will start at 6:00pm to facilitate both eating and reflecting. The address will be sent when you register. We plan to be outdoors if the weather cooperates.
Register HERE.
